First story, typical day at work

A typical day here in the tech shop is full of fun and craziness.

Morning will usually start out with me arriving and either starting the coffee brewing or if it's already going, I plop down at my desk and do my morning internet checking. Work email, personal email, check my comics while mail is loading, check my work que list, check headlines on news, and then stare at my screen for a while.

By now we have opened but it's morning. Generally do not see a soul till around 10am. And since parts do not get delivered till between 10:30 and Whenever he feels like it o'clock, there usually isn't a whole lot to do in the mornings. Now and then there will be a computer that had been left running to finish overnight, so a quick check on that will usually clue me into how the day is going to go.

If it finished and is all happy working, it will be a good day. But if the computer gnomes decided to attack the shop during the night and the machine has mysteriously fubarded itself, it's going to be a long day. Even longer and more painful if you called the customer before leaving the evening before and told them it would be ready today. That's just asking for the computer to go haywire.

By now the other techs have all wandered in.
Side track!
I am the only female tech that works here as well as I'm the first female tech to be hired to work here in the 20+ years they have been in operation. Ha! Yea, no pressure to do well!
There is one other female that works in the shop as an accountant/billing person. She is awesome. She was very very very pissed at our boss when she found out he had hired a female. She figured I would cause all sorts of drama and issues. My first day, I arrived early. She was the only other person here. First thing she says to me, "Okay, I have to ask you. Are you a girly girl?" I laughed and told her I couldn't recall ever being considered one in my life, I mean come on, I'm a computer tech! Since then we have gotten along great.
Back on track!
Coffee is consumed, latest rumors or news is exchanged, and general tinkering and fixing begins. By now the phones will start to ring a bit, usually staff/faculty calling. Students don't typically stumble around till after 10 or 11 and then the fun begins! Though staff and faculty do contribute a large amount to the amusement fund.
By mid morning the resident package delivery guy has arrived. This guy is a riot, he so reminds me of Katt Williams. He can be a bit flaky on deliveries or pick ups but generally he's an awesome guy.
Getting in parts starts the land rush for bench space. Everyone sort of has already staked out a claim on a bench but the bench to tech ratio is a bit off. So that leads to invasions into other people's territories. Generally these are peaceful takeovers though and no loss of life or machine parts happen.
11:30 rolls around and a general exodus occurs. Lunch! We will usually all eat together, be it going out or chowing down in our makeshift break room. We get a 1 hour lunch break but rarely do we use the whole hour. Upon returning to work, it's fight off the nap time. For some people this can last till 5pm, closing time. But that usually occurs in conjunction with an empty work que.
The rest of the day is a mix of work and prank wars, which usually involve flying screw drivers, pens, screws, electrical tape rolls, or other various objects that can be chucked.
And we can't forget the walk in customers. They are the gem of the day. At least once a day you can bet on getting a "my friend/room-mate spilled *fill in the blank* on my laptop and now it won't turn on". There is also the shirt to problem correlation that is always amusing to witness. As the severity of the problem increases, the lower the neckline on the girl's shirt will be, generally speaking. It is especially amusing if I happen to be the one assisting said girl. 9 times out of 10 she will crane her neck, looking past me for any sign of a male to assist her. The guys will have suddenly become busy, just for the pure amusement of watching the expressions on her face. The other 1 out of 10 times, I will be asked a number of times if I am sure I'm a computer tech. Oops no, you caught me. I'm the receptionist. I was just pretending to be a tech for giggles.
5pm rolls around and we start to trickle out the door. A few might stay later to finish up a computer someone just had to have done first thing in the morning. Or just simply because the machine is being stubborn and so the problem has become personal now.
I putter my way home, change out of my work clothes and then relax in front of my tv.
And that is my typical day!

First post!

Seeing as how this is my first post in my very first blog, allow me to introduce myself.

On the off chance that the title didn't give it away, I am female and I work as a computer technician. When computers break, I fix them. When a printer throws a tantrum and spews toner or ink everywhere, it's my hands that get stained lovely colors.

I have been doing this job for about 6 years now and I enjoy every moment of it. Well, almost every moment.

The majority of the time I have worked at a major state university. I did have short break working at a certain big electronic store's tech department.

I am now back at the university working in a department that also services the general population. So it is sort of half retail.

Everyday there is something new that happens that either makes me laugh or groan in disbelief.
I hope you all enjoy this blog!